


cognoscere

by amosanguis



Series: crossovers and fusions ftw [21]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Following, X-Men (Movies)
Genre: 2nd POV - Joe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, BAMF!Mike, Gen, mutant!Joe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-03
Updated: 2013-04-03
Packaged: 2017-12-07 10:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/747277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amosanguis/pseuds/amosanguis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If only you had known the truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cognoscere

-z-

 

If only you had known the truth.

 

-x-

 

You know that boy for what he is the second you see him.

You see it in his eyes – his _mutant_ eyes.  Because that’s _your_ power – you know your kind.

“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure,” you say, and _oh, yes_ – it is a pleasure. 

And just looking at him makes you salivate.  You want him to be yours.  But then Ryan walks into the room and you see the way the mutant nods his head in deference. 

It makes you ill to see such a supreme being degrade himself so.

If only you had known the truth.

 

-x-

 

When you see Roderick’s board of those who may know where Claire was, you immediately hone in on Mike’s face.

“Bring him back to me,” you say.  “I want him for my own.”

You miss the flash of jealousy in Roderick’s eyes and, though you don’t know it, you’ve just signed away your freedom.  You had thought that all of the powerful mutants, like the ones that went to war in San Francisco, had all died – leaving only the least powerful of your race alive. 

If only you had known the truth.

 

-x-

 

When Roderick brings in a broken and bleeding Mike, you can barely contain your excitement.  You pet the side of his face and lean in close.

“How beautiful you are,” you whisper.  “And here I thought all the other mutants were either extinct or so far underground that they had forgotten the sun.”

You see a spark enter Mike’s eyes and it’s like the fight’s come back to him.

“How did you know?” he asks, and there a smirk there and you don't notice how the temperature’s dropped a few degrees.

“Because that’s my power, dear boy,” you say.

“Is that all you can do?” he asks, he almost sounds relieved.  It’s as he says this that you notice that Roderick and Charlie and Louise have completely backed away; Charlie looking at down at his hands.

“What’s the matter—” you start to ask and then you see it.  Charlie’s hands are covered in a thin layer of ice.

“Y’know,” Mike is standing up straight now and you see that his wounds almost appear to be _healing_.  “There was a time, back before, when his whole body would have frozen over with just a touch.  Guess I’m just a little rusty.”

He shrugs and rolls his shoulders and there is absolutely no possible way you can ignore the temperature drop now – because now your breath is coming out in a heavy fog and layers of frost are starting to come up from under Mike’s shoes.

Then Mike is flexing his fingers and ice suddenly builds up around his fist and then he’s moving faster than you’ve ever seen anyone move.

Charlie drops first, screaming as he clutches his broken jaw.

Then Roderick, blood bubbling out of his mouth, is wrapping an arm around first his stomach and then his throat; his larynx is shattered and the cartilage has ripped away at his esophagus.

 _He’s drowning_ , you thought as you turned on your heel to get Joey.

But Mike’s there and he’s still smiling.

“Just like riding a bike,” he says and you see how he’s reveling in the use of his powers.

Before you can anything, you’re completely frozen.

Mike taps the ice in front of your eyes.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Carrol,” he says, his voice sounding muffled and distant.  “You won’t die.  You’re merely suspended until the FBI gets here.”

Then he turns around and is gone. 

He reappears a moment later, a sleeping Joey on his hip.

You try to scream, try to fight.

And as he leaves the house, he throws one last dark smirk over his shoulder.

 

-x-

 

If only you had known the truth.

Maybe things could have been different; maybe you would still be free; maybe Roderick and Charlie and Emma and everyone else would still be alive and killing and not either dead or locked away for life. 

If only you had known the truth.

 

-z-

 

End

**Author's Note:**

> Cognoscere is Latin for "to learn, recognize, know".

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cuffs & Ice](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1696748) by [BlackInkedObsession](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackInkedObsession/pseuds/BlackInkedObsession)




End file.
